An authoritative resource for in-house counsel who needs quick access, but detailed analyses, on a broad array of topics faced everyday. The Toolkit provides forms, policies, and practice tips in seven broad practice areas that may not be within counsels' particular area of expertise. The seven practice areas are published as individual volumes covering General Business Contracts; Corporate Governance; Corporate Compliance; Employment Law; Intellectual Property; Litigation; and Training Outside Counsel.
"[The author] shares his insights, anecdotes, strategies, and practical tips learned from his 20+ years of experience as in-house counsel, general counsel, corporate secretary, and chief compliance officer. As author of the popular blog, 'Ten things you need to know as in-house counsel, ' Miller provides quick points that you can use in your everyday practice ... Whether you are new to an in-house department or a long-term veteran, the general counsel or just a basic contract lawyer, Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel provides you with guidance on: how to be a successful in-house counsel; being more productive every day; drafting documents and emails; how to negotiate; effectively managing outside counsel fees; trade secrets and protecting your company; dealing with the Board of Directors; preparing for when bad things happen; analyzing risk; and much more."--
Walter Effross is a superb teacher and succeeds in making a sometimes dry subject interesting to students. Corporate Governance contrasts schools of thought, explaining the conflicts between such theories as contractarianism and communitarianism, and such emerging academic approaches as empiricism and behavioral economics. The text includes excerpts from only the most important sections of judicial decisions along with their relevant factual and procedural context. Extensive notes address the reactions to decisions from other courts, commentators, counsel, and executives. Dozens of examples ripped from the headlines, excerpted from actual corporate documents, and drawn from popular culture illustrate key principles and spark class discussions. More than one hundred suggestions for paper topics are especially useful for participants in research and writing seminars. An appendix categorizes and details more than eighty separate initiatives that shareholder activists and commentators have proposed. A wide range of excerpts from corporate documents and court decisions interpreting these materials help students translate the caselaw and learn drafting techniques. The Second Edition reflects legislative, regulatory, judicial, and Fortune 500 developments since mid-2009 as well as new examples from corporate documents, the Great Books, and popular culture. Detailed coverage of new and emerging topics includes discussion of the governance of nonprofit corporations the emerging types of social enterprises such as benefit corporations, B corporations, and flexible purpose corporations; the board s responsibility to rein in the cyber-risks raised by hackers, e-mails, Web sites, and social media; and the implications for directors, officers, and counsel of new research on avoiding common cognitive traps that compromise decision-making in situations of risk and uncertainty. The Second Edition explores governance changes wrought by the financial crisis and reform legislation; the responsible corporate officer doctrine, the honest services doctrine, and other theories of executive liability; issues raised by crowdfunding ; and the consequences of the Citizens United decision removing limits on companies independent political expenditures. New appendices give detailed advice on identifying, developing, refining, and researching topics for articles and on using the publishing process to invigorate one s professional network and career.
Corporate Governance examines in an extraordinarily practical and accessible way the legal concerns of today’s shareholders, stakeholders, directors, officers, and their counsel, with a special emphasis on drafting documents and developing procedures to anticipate and prevent problems. Designed for real-world application by students, practitioners, executives, investors, and activists, the text includes excerpts from only the most important judicial decisions. Extensive notes and analyses provide context from courts, commentators, institutional investors, proxy advisors, stock exchange requirements, and businesspeople. Dozens of examples “ripped from the headlines,” or taken from corporate documents, the “Great Books,” or pop culture illustrate and illuminate key principles. Appendices offer detailed information to establish, support, and advance the reader’s career in corporate governance practice. New to the Third Edition: Composite provisions, offset in text boxes, patterned on the corporate governance guidelines of major corporations, identify the issues in and approaches to drafting such documents. New appendices discussing: On Preparing and Presenting “Actionable” Advice, for both executives and their counsel (Appendix B), and Ten Tips for Transparency in Posting Core Corporate Documents Online (Appendix C); and a fully updated list of Recommended Resources for Corporate Governance Research (Appendix A). In Chapter 1, enhanced discussion and examples of themes and trends in the study, theory, and practice of corporate governance. Throughout Chapter 2, expanded treatment of the directors’ responsibility to monitor and reduce risks (including special issues of cybersecurity); and analyses of the rules of conduct for board meetings, of variable/differential voting powers of directors; and of emergency bylaws. In Chapter 3, new discussions of meetings in “executive session,” and of the viability of a policy against a company’s directors’ dating each other; and additional material on: constraints on executives’ “private” activities and statements; special responsibilities of members of the audit committee; and the composition and role of the executive committee. In Chapter 4, updated discussions of virtual meetings of shareholders, of the rules of conduct for shareholder meetings, and of forum selection provisions for intracorporate litigation; and new sections on “loyalty shares”/“tenure voting,” on fee-shifting provisions, and on mandatory arbitration provisions. In Chapter 5, new examinations of: increased efforts (and mandates) to diversify the composition of boards; the “financial literacy” requirement for (some) directors; enabling the CEO also to serve as the board chair; the role of the “executive chair”; “golden leashes” for directors; the roles and responsibilities of advisory board members, advisory directors, emeritus directors, honorary directors, and board observers; proxy access proposals; and “refreshing” the board through age and term limits for directors. In Chapter 6, expanded discussions of clawbacks, restrictions on executives’ pledging and hedging company stock, Key Employee Retention Plans (KERPs) in bankruptcy situations, “golden hellos,” and “say on pay” litigation; and an analysis of the recent requirement of “pay ratio disclosure.” In Chapter 7, updated material on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) issues, and on social enterprises such as benefit corporations and Certified B Corporations. In Chapter 8, a new discussion of the role and relationship to corporate counsel, of the chief compliance officer. Professors and students will benefit from: References to more than 200 newly added decisions. Identification of hundreds of intriguing topics for papers and/or blogs. Comparisons and contrasts of the governance practices supported by institutional investors, proxy advisors, and stock exchanges. A practice-ready, drafting-oriented approach to the systems, structures, and strategies of corporate governance.
A concise overview of the legal needs of nonprofit organizations Good Counsel is a compact and personable overview of the legal needs of nonprofits, crafted by one of America's most astute nonprofit general counsels. The book distills the legal needs of the 1.8 million tax-exempt organizations in the United States.Written in a clear and accessible style, with plenty of humor and storytelling as well as illustrative case studies, Good Counsel explains the basics of nonprofit corporate law, governance, and the tax exemption. It then takes a department-by-department look at legal topics relevant to program, fundraising, finance, communications, human resources, operations, contracts, government relations, and more. Good Counsel is designed help organizations fulfill their missions to do the public good. Designed to impart confidence and demystify the issues, Good Counsel is a must-read for nonprofit professionals and board members as well as lawyers and law students. Using Good Counsel as their playbook, lawyers, executives, and trustees can get an overview of the most common legal, governance, and compliance issues facing their organization and together ramp up a top-notch legal function. Contains practice pointers, checklists, and assessment tools Features sample contracts, licenses, and other form documents Filled with case studies and end-of-chapter focus questions, as well as available lesson plans for easy classroom use by educators in business, management, public policy, and law schools Good Counsel is the first-of-its-kind guidebook written by the sitting General Counsel of a major nonprofit. Written by influential author, speaker, and Bar leader Lesley Rosenthal, the General Counsel of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Good Counsel shares the insights of a Harvard Law School graduate with years of in-house and business law experience as well as board service.
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
The author of Behind the Scenes in International Arbitration, Ugo Draetta uses his 30 years of experience as in-house counsel for General Electric and Fiat to bring you On the Side of In-House Counsel, written in the same anecdotal style. Draetta ended his career as Vice President - Senior Counsel - International for G.E., with responsibility for all the company’s legal issues outside of the U.S. On the Side of In-House Counsel describes the various problems encountered by in-house counsel in defining their role in a situation where there are many manuals describing the role of other corporate functions (finance, treasury, sales, engineering, manufacturing), but none on the legal function. Many companies, especially in continental Europe, do not have a legal operation and, when they finally hire a lawyer, he/she must perform a pioneering role. Company managers, who must properly utilize the legal function, will benefit from the book. On the Side of In-House Counsel highlights the complex relations existing between an in-house counsel and his/her client, who is also his/her manager. Hence, the need for a personal chemistry without which an in-house counsel cannot efficiently operate. The book also describes the managerial skills required of an in-house counsel when he/she is the head of a large legal operation and suggests the appropriate ways to solve issues, such as centralisation versus decentralization of the various company lawyers, and relationships with outside counsel and with the external world (Universities, Institutions). The book ends with a plea for in-house counsel to become global lawyers in a global world, lead lawyers and, in the end, lawyer-statesmen.
